The newly renovated Cobo Center could be used for a political convention. / Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press

What’s needed for a convention

In its letter to Detroit officials this month, the Democratic National Committee outlined some of the minimum requirements for hosting the party’s national political convention. They include: ■ An arena, convention hall or enclosed dome stadium with at least 650,000 square feet of usable space, a bowl with seating capacity for at least 18,500 to 25,000 participants, 100 sky suites and exclusive access 60 days before and three weeks after Convention Week. ■ Media workspace of up to 250,000 square feet, at least 200,000 square feet of paved area for satellite trucks, a public demonstration area and merchandising space. ■ As many as 18,000 hotel rooms and 1,000 suites within 30 minutes of the convention complex, with at least 700 rooms and 100 suites in close proximity to the hall. ■ A major airport capable of handling high peak volumes of passengers within 45 minutes’ travel time of the convention complex, a minimum of 250 air-conditioned buses for the exclusive use of the convention and a fleet of taxis and rental vehicles sufficient to handle convention crowds. ■ Advanced telecommunications service, including wireless connectivity, and infrastructure and resources to install “private and public convention telephone facilities equivalent to a service system or ‘city’ of 25,000 to 30,000 people.” ■ A host committee responsible for raising the funds or in-kind services necessary to cover the cost of facilities, communications, construction, hospitality, transportation, security, insurance “and other factors associated with hosting the convention.”

Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan for president at their convention at Joe Louis Arena in 1980. / Detroit Free Press

One of the requirements for a host city is an arena, convention hall or enclosed dome stadium, such as Ford Field. / Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press

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WASHINGTON — Detroit may be embroiled in the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, but it’s still exploring the possibilities of throwing its name into contention to host a national political convention in the summer of 2016.

Any bid by Detroit to host the Democratic or Republican nominating conventions may be a long shot considering the hurdles to be crossed, but it’s one that could offer the city a national stage from which to rebrand itself. And Mayor Mike Duggan is in the early stages of looking into the prospects.

“There certainly has been some discussion in the political and business community,” said Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. While he’s uncertain how serious an effort it is, Baruah said Detroit has a revival story to showcase now — and will have more of one to tell in two years.

The problems with such an effort could be more immediate. A host committee has to promise to raise as much as $50 million or more. Much of that could come from national sources, but it could be a drain on sponsors and fund-raisers who have been trying to aid Detroit through its financial troubles.

In 2012, the host committee in Charlotte, N.C., borrowed $10 million to help hit its fund-raising goal for that year’s Democratic National Convention. Four years before that, Denver’s committee had little troubling topping $60 million for an event that saw Barack Obama nominated for president.

“There are so many things going on right now,” said Randall Rosebush, a fund-raising consultant in metro Detroit. “Coming to $50 million like that — and you don’t have a lot of time to work with, they would need that commitment pretty quickly — I don’t think there’s enough time to put that together.”

Detroit was among several cities that received letters from the Democratic National Committee outlining the basics of what a host city would need to provide, and asking it to let the DNC know by March 1 if it’s interested in receiving the more detailed request for proposal, or RFP.

The Republican National Committee already sent an RFP to Detroit — as well as to several other cities — late last year, and bids are due Wednesday. It is not known if Detroit is preparing a bid for the GOP convention — though it is not believed to be doing so — even though Republican political consultant Mike Murphy, a Detroit native, last year urged the GOP to hold its 2016 convention in the city.

Detroit last held a national political convention in 1980, when the Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan for president at Joe Louis Arena.

To secure a convention, host committees must promise to provide suitable convention space, transportation, hotel rooms, security, communications and more to take care of more than 40,000 convention delegates, journalists and VIPs. Several cities are vying for either convention, including Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix and St. Louis.

Three cities in Ohio — Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus — also are interested in being hosts.

In terms of infrastructure, Detroit could handle a national political convention, having hosted the NCAA Final Four and the Super Bowl. Renee Monforton, with the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, said there are 4,500 hotel rooms downtown and about 40,000 in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

But Bill Nowling, spokesman for Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr, said there is nothing in the 10-year plan of adjustment for the city’s finances that would account for “the added costs associated with such a big event.”

And Michigan’s electoral history could work against it: Conventions are often held in political swing states, and Michigan has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in the last six elections.

The payoff, though, can be substantial. According to the DNC’s letter to Detroit, past conventions have injected as much as $200 million into the host’s local economy and could provide “an enormous opportunity to showcase Detroit as a world-class city.”

“It’s always difficult: It’s a question of time, it’s a question of finding the right people; it’s trying to get as many in-kind contributions, as well as dollar-amount contributions, as you can,” said Steve Farber, president and founding partner of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Denver and co-chair of the 2008 host committee. “I think it’s a challenge for any city.”